This invention relates generally to a device that upon impact or overheating disperses a fire extinguishing agent to prevent a fire from starting or extinguishing a fire that has already initiated, and more particularly to a passive container for holding the fire extinguishing agent such that one portion of the container preferentially absorbs more of the energy caused by the impact or overheating than other container portions in order to maximize the liberation of the fire extinguishing agent.
Powder panels have been used in ground-based and air-based military applications to provide passive, lightweight, fire protection against ballistic impact, releasing powder into a fire zone to inert the space before adjoining fuel spills into the space and is ignited by incendiaries. Typically, the panels include a hollow or semi-hollow space containing fire extinguishing agent (normally in powder form) that, upon ballistic impact, is released into the environment adjacent the panel. Results from a number of test programs have indicated that powder panels can be an effective, low-cost way to achieve passive fire protection benefits. Some panel designs included numerous honeycomb-shaped cells, each filled with fire extinguishing agent. More recent work has been performed with powder panels to optimize them for automobile applications. These newer designs involved the use of discrete channels, rather than the earlier honeycomb design to achieve a more effective release of powder. Nevertheless, difficulties remain in achieving a thorough liberation of the powder in applications where the damage may be more localized, such as from the aforementioned ballistic projectile. What is needed is a powder panel that is lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture, yet upon absorption of ballistic or thermal energy, is capable of releasing extensive amounts of the fire extinguishing agent.